Marseille and Provence
An engagement ring missing somewhere in the garden of a rented house in the Luberon
Only the people staying in the house know which corners of the garden were used that day, and that list is where a search begins.
An engagement ring that came off in the garden of a holiday house near Gordes can be searched for. What decides it is whether you can name the places you went with it on, the table, the lawn, the gravel by the car, and whether anyone has worked on that ground since.
Ring Seekers is a lost ring and jewellery recovery service that connects people who lost a ring, wedding band, watch, keys or phone in Marseille and Provence with a metal detectorist who can search there.
Tell us what happened and where. We find a detectorist who can reach the house, the park or the beach, brief them with your map and photos, and tell you honestly if the odds are poor.
The same goes for Marseille and its town beaches, for Avignon, Orange and Nîmes, for Montélimar and Miramas, and farther inland for Manosque and Sisteron.
Make the list before anyone tidies up
Sit down with everyone in the house and make a list, in order, of where the ring went that day: breakfast outside, the outdoor tap, the washing line, a game on the grass, loading the car. Take a photo of each of those spots from where you stood, and save a pin for the house itself. For now, leave the gravel unraked and the beds unwatered.
In Marseille, start with the name of the beach, because the Prado alone is a string of them. Inland, name the park, the sports ground or the lake, then mark where you sat or played.
Places we cover in Marseille and Provence
- Marseille
- Plage des Catalans
- Plage du Prophète
- The Prado beaches, Prado Nord and Prado Sud
- Plage Borély and Plage de Bonneveine
- Plage de la Vieille Chapelle
- Plage de la Pointe Rouge
- The calanques of Sormiou and Morgiou
- Saint-Estève beach on the Frioul islands
- Avignon
- Parc Chico Mendès and the Plaine des Sports
- Île de la Barthelasse
- Orange and the Parc Gasparin
- Nîmes
- Domaine de la Bastide
- Montélimar and its Jardin public
- Miramas
- Gordes and the Luberon
- Holiday houses and gardens across Provence
- Manosque and the Lac des Vannades
- Sisteron
- Plan d'eau des Marres
Town beaches in Marseille, then parks and lakes inland
The coast here is Marseille, its calanques and islands. Everywhere else, people lose things on grass, gravel and the edges of lakes.
The Prado beaches, Marseille
The Prado is a run of beaches open to all over 3.5 km, from the statue of David down to the Vieille Chapelle near Pointe Rouge, so the name of the stretch you were on matters more than the word Prado. Prado Nord, Prado Sud, Borély and Bonneveine lie along it, and wide stretches of grass around it are popular with football players.
The Catalans and the Prophète, Marseille
The Catalans is a sand beach close to the city centre, a few minutes on foot from the Vieux-Port, and it gets very lively. The Prophète sits below the Corniche Kennedy. Its water is shallow, so children can stand a long way out, and in the evening people gather on it for picnics and to watch the sunset.
Pointe Rouge and the Vieille Chapelle, Marseille
Pointe Rouge is a sandy beach beside the small port of the same name, and it is often busy because it is sheltered from the wind. Pedalos, kitesurfing and paddleboards go out from it. The Vieille Chapelle, close by at the Pointe Rouge end of the Prado, has its own kitesurf zone and play areas for children.
Sormiou, Morgiou and the Frioul islands, Marseille
From the Baumettes district, a winding road leads down on foot in summer to Sormiou, a small sandy beach beside a little harbour and fishermen's cabins. Morgiou is a cove with flat limestone rocks to lie on. The Frioul shuttle leaves the Vieux-Port for the islands, where Saint-Estève is half sand, half pebbles, with shallow water.
Avignon's parks, the Barthelasse and the Parc Gasparin, Orange
In Avignon, the Parc Chico Mendès is one of the town parks in the Quartier Est, and the Plaine des Sports lies at Saint-Chamand. Name the park and the part of it you used, a lawn or a playing field. A free river shuttle from the Quai de la Ligne crosses to the Île de la Barthelasse, with its towpath along the Rhône, orchards and cycle paths. In Orange, the Parc Gasparin is a shaded public garden where the town holds concerts with food trucks on summer evenings, so say whether you were there for one.
The Domaine de la Bastide, Nîmes, and the Jardin public, Montélimar
On the road to Générac, the Domaine de la Bastide mixes lawns and old trees with a sports complex whose grass pitches are used by Nîmes clubs, and a pond where young people try kayaking. The Jardin public in Montélimar lies between the town centre and the station, with a lake, a stream, a bandstand, and ducks on the grass.
The Plan d'eau des Marres, Sisteron, and the Lac des Vannades, Manosque
A short walk from the centre of Sisteron, with the Citadelle behind it, the Marres is a fenced bathing area with grass instead of sand to lie on, a paddling area for small children and a larger one for swimmers. Five kilometres from the centre of Manosque, the Lac des Vannades has a supervised bathing beach in summer, beach volleyball, picnic areas and a play area.
Holiday houses around Gordes
Gordes stands on the foothills of the Monts de Vaucluse, facing the Luberon massif, with car parks set around the village centre. If you rented a house nearby, tell us about the garden, the terrace and the drive, and the detectorist is briefed on each of them.
What happens after your first message
Your list goes straight across
The person you write to on WhatsApp is the one who briefs the detectorist, so the list of spots you made at the kitchen table reaches the search in your own words.
Beach names or a garden sketch
In Marseille the brief is built around the named beach and the landmark behind you. Near Gordes it is built around your sketch of the garden.
Honest about the sea
Gardens, lawns and park grass give a search something to work with. Deep water off the Corniche is a long shot, and you would hear that from us first.
Your go-ahead
We explain the costs before any search is booked, and the decision to go ahead is yours to give.
Sea sand in the city, grass and gravel inland
What the ground was like where it went matters as much as the town.
Marseille's beaches
The Catalans and Pointe Rouge are sand beaches, and around the Prado beaches there is grass as well as sand. At the Prophète the water stays shallow far out. Tell us whether you were on the sand, on the grass or in the water, and how deep it was.
Around a rented house
Say what the ground was at each spot on your list: lawn, gravel, paving, soil in a bed, or among lavender plants, and whether anyone has watered, swept or raked there since.
Lakes and bathing areas inland
At the Marres in Sisteron people lie on grass beside the water. Montélimar has a lake in its Jardin public, and the Domaine de la Bastide in Nîmes has a pond. Say whether you were on the grass or at the water.
Questions about Marseille and Provence
The ring could be on the lawn or in the gravel of the house we rented near Gordes. Which do we mention first?
Whichever you crossed last with it still on your finger, and both if you are not sure. Send a rough sketch of the garden with the lawn, the gravel, the terrace and the beds drawn in, and mark where each of you was. Photos of the ring from before the holiday help the detectorist know its size and setting.
My watch was gone after a kickabout on the grass by the Prado.
Start with the nearest named beach, such as Prado Nord, Prado Sud, Borély or Bonneveine. The statue of David stands at one end of the Prado and the Vieille Chapelle, near Pointe Rouge, at the other, so either one helps us place you. Then say how far back from the sand the game was, where the bags were dropped, and whether anyone went into the sea afterwards still wearing the watch.
A necklace came undone on the sand at the Catalans.
The Catalans is close to the Vieux-Port and very lively, so the sooner you write, the better. Say where your towel lay in relation to the water, whether you swam, and what the chain and any pendant look like.
My husband's wedding band came off while he stood in the water at the Prophète.
The water at the Prophète is shallow a long way out, so the first thing we ask is how far from the sand he was and how deep the water stood on him. From the Corniche Kennedy above the beach, take a photo looking down over where he was swimming and send it with a pin.
I was on a paddleboard off Pointe Rouge when my Oura ring went.
Tell us whether it went as you climbed on in the shallows or once you were out on the water, and how long you had been out. Pointe Rouge lies beside its small port, so say which side of the beach you launched from.
A chain belonging to our son went missing at the Plan d'eau des Marres in Sisteron.
People lie on grass at the Marres rather than on sand. Tell us whether he was in the children's paddling area, in the swimmers' part or on the grass, and whether the Citadelle was in front of you or behind.
I lost my keys in the Jardin public in Montélimar while we were watching the ducks.
Mark where you stood by the lake or the stream, and whether you also walked past the bandstand or the animal park on the way. Describe the key ring and anything hanging from it.
Our hire-car key dropped out of a pocket somewhere between a Gordes car park and the village.
Pin where you left the car and trace the route you walked into the village and back. Spaces close to the centre are hardest to find in summer and on Tuesday mornings, when the market is on, so tell us the day and roughly when you parked.
Marseille and Provence
A garden in the Luberon or a beach in Marseille
One line is enough to get started.
A WhatsApp message saying what is missing and roughly where is enough to begin. The list of places you went that day, and any pins, can follow once you have them.